Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government's position on this has been outlined by the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, on numerous occasions. While the Government is and continues to be very supportive of CE schemes, those employed on the CE schemes are not employed by the State even though State funds many of them and consequently there is a contractual difference between somebody working on a CE scheme and somebody employed across the pubic sector.

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